Welcome to issue #33 of Susanality, my free weekly newsletter. Thanks for being here and welcome to all the new signups! If you end up loving this newsletter, please consider a paid subscription. Having your support would mean a lot to me, as I continue to work hard to bring you fresh content on a weekly basis with additional posts and recipes going out to paid subscribers at least twice a month. In the next few weeks, I’ll be rolling out lots of Thanksgiving content, both here and in the paid version, so stay tuned!
I haven’t gone apple-picking yet this year, though we usually go if there’s a nice crisp day that practically demands this annual activity. It’s cheaper of course, to just buy the apples, but you’re paying for the experience of walking down the apple-littered aisles of the orchard, plucking fruit from the not-too-tall branches, tasting as you go. There’s been a bit of pushback on apple picking this year. Rachel Sugar wrote about it in New York Magazine, and then David Folkenflik interviewed her about it on NPR if you care to take a deep dive.
If you just want a delightful apple cake that you can easily make when you get home from apple picking, or maybe just from the grocery store, have I got one for you. There are a lot of apple cakes in the world, and many of them use lots of raw apples which soften somewhat during baking and lend moisture to the cake. Teddie’s Apple Cake is one such cake, originally by Jean Hewitt, who wrote for the New York Times many autumns ago. I styled it once for the New York Times Magazine when Amanda Hesser was the food editor there, and I liked the recipe enough to make it again a few more times. The last time I made it, though, I thought it could do with a bit less oil. I think you could reduce it to a cup or less. The beauty and charm of an apple cake like Teddie’s, and like the recipe I’m sharing with you today, is that it can be eaten for breakfast, with afternoon tea or coffee, or dressed up with ice cream or whipped cream, and served as a homey dessert. It’s what we used to call “coffee cake”, and now call a “snacking cake”. Not too sweet, and perfect with a cup of coffee.
The apple cake I was dreaming about had silky, caramelized (not raw) apples studding a simple, buttery (not oily) batter that doesn’t require a mixer to make. It’s basically a buckle, which is usually packed with juicy berries, but I thought it would be the perfect vehicle for apples too. You could throw some blackberries or raspberries into the batter if you wanted, which would make it even juicier and moister. There is (almost) no limit to how much fruit this cake can hold (though it might take a little longer to bake, so plan accordingly and test for doneness). Enriching the cake with sour cream is essential to its tenderness, but you could sub full fat (or at least not non-fat) yogurt if that’s all you’ve got.
And here it is, an apple dream come true.
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Caramel Apple Brown Butter Buckle
Serves 6 to 8
Honeycrisp apples can be huge, and that’s what I used when testing this recipe. You can use other apples, but make sure they are a variety that can stand up to the cooking process and not fall apart. Pink Lady, Cameo, Fuji, and Granny Smith are good options, but use more apples as needed to approximate the weight given below. If the apples are small, you might need up to six! If you don’t have an iron skillet, or you don’t have one that doesn’t taste like recently cooked salmon or onions, you can use any 9 or 10-inch skillet to cook the apples and make the brown butter, and then bake the buckle in a 9 or 10-inch cake pan, just make sure to butter it first. One more thing— you can use other dairy, like yogurt or labneh or crème fraiche in place of the sour cream but go for full fat versions to retain the tenderness of the cake.
For the apples:
3 large Honeycrisp apples (about 2 pounds 6 ounces/1 kg), peeled, cored, and sliced
2 tablespoons/28 g unsalted butter
½ cup/101 g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
For the cake:
½ cup (1 stick)/113 g unsalted butter, cut up
¾ cup/151 g granulated sugar
1¼ cups/ 160g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 large eggs
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon turbinado (raw) sugar
Heat oven to 375°F. Heat a 9-inch iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and let melt. Add sugar and stir to moisten. Heat until sugar melts completely, and starts to brown, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until smooth and deep amber, about 5 minutes total. Carefully (as in don’t let them splash in the hot caramel) add the apples all at once, along with the cinnamon and a big pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally until apples are turning translucent and silky and liquid has thickened, about 10 minutes. Slide onto a dinner plate and set aside. Rinse the skillet and return to the stove.
Heat the skillet over medium heat and add the stick of butter. Swirl the pan frequently until the butter turns nut brown and smells toasty, which will take anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Even in a dark pan, you’ll see the color turn, especially in the center when you swirl it. Immediately transfer it to a medium bowl and set aside to cool slightly. Keep the skillet (now buttered) standing by.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Whisk to combine thoroughly.
Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla to the bowl with the butter and whisk to combine thoroughly. Fold the wet mixture into the dry using a rubber spatula, and then fold in about half the apples, avoiding the extra caramel pooled on the plate. Transfer to the buttered skillet and top with the remaining apples and the extra caramel. Sprinkle the raw sugar over top and bake for 40 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake is deep golden brown on the edges. Let cool 10 minutes. Best served warm!
A note on the baking time: If you make this straight through, and the ingredients and skillet are still warm, it will take about 40 minutes. If things have cooled off, it will take 5 to 10 minutes longer. If baking in a shallow cake pan, put a baking sheet underneath to catch any errant juices.
I made this for the first time tonight, as our four sons were coming over to watch Monday night football.
The aroma in the house was amazing and this cake is absolutely fabulous.
Susan, your recipes are foolproof and delightful 💞